Epilogue
ABBY
“Ithought I’d find you here.”
Cooper approaches me on the dock with a small box in his hand.
Our border collie mix, Max, follows closely at his heels, sniffing along the way.
I’m sitting at the edge of the pier, leaning back on my hands as I try to alleviate the pressure on my ribs from the swelling of my belly.
I press my palm to the growing bump and smile when I feel two tiny kicks.
Walker Stone McAllister.
Our baby boy.
I flash Cooper a grin when he sits down beside me and places his own hand over mine.
“He’s kicking, isn’t he?” he wonders with a father-to-be glow.
I nod, grasping Cooper’s hand and shifting it left. “Here,” I say. “Give him a minute.”
A beat passes, then another.
Finally, he kicks.
Hard.
Cooper pulls back, startled. I can’t help but giggle at his wide-eyed expression.
“Jesus,” he laughs. “If this is any indication of our son’s physical abilities, I’d say we’re in trouble.”
“Maybe he’ll grow up to be a mighty defender, just like his father,” I suggest, nudging him with my elbow. “Or a bodyguard for the mafia.”
“That escalated quickly.”
Max lies sprawled out beside Cooper with his paws hanging over the edge of the pier. He’s focused on a family of ducks coasting by and ready to pounce at any moment.
“Easy, boy,” Cooper prompts, scratching between his ears. Max noses the box resting next to Cooper like a gentle reminder.
Or possibly because there’s food inside.
My interest piques as I sit up, peeking over my shoulder at the mystery box. “Do I smell sugar?” I wonder, my nose crinkling, and my taste buds tingling with anticipation.
Cooper has always loved to spoil me, but he’s taken it up a few notches since I became pregnant.
He glances my way, and I note the mischievous gleam in his eyes.
What are you up to, Cooper McAllister?
He reaches down to pick up the box then opens the lid, and I immediately smell the familiar sweet scent of chocolate. I’m already drooling.
Holding out both hands, I wiggle my fingers expectantly. “Cupcake,” I demand.
Max scurries off the deck toward the house, likely in search of Cupcake, the cat.
I can’t help but chuckle.
“First, I have a question for you,” Cooper says, his expression cheeky.
I groan.
There is little time for games when a pregnant woman is hungry.
“Fine,” I oblige, leaning back on my palms with a sigh.
“Truth or dare?”
A kaleidoscope of butterflies come alive inside my belly at his question.
Or maybe that was Walker doing backflips on my bladder.
Either way, I grin. “Dare,” I say firmly. “I dare you to give me the cupcake.”
Cooper shakes his head, hiding the treat from my view.
“Okay, okay,” I concede. “Truth.”
He bites down on his lip, his eyes thinning with consideration. “Is it true that you’re helplessly, madly, ridiculously in love with me?” Cooper waggles his eyebrows, amused with himself.
“That’s way too many adverbs.” Then I soften, not completely immune to his charm. “And yes. You know I am.”
I watch as he reaches into the box and pulls out the dessert, handing it to me while licking a dab of chocolate frosting off his thumb.
My stomach grumbles when the cupcake teases my lips.
But I pause, pulling back and examining the words scribbled across the top.
“I have one more question,” he says softly.
I read the message drawn in yellow frosting:
“Will you bee…?”
My eyes land on a bumble bee design directly below the lettering, and my heart skips at least twelve beats. I hold my breath as my head tilts toward Cooper.
He holds up a ring.
I start to cry.
I don’t even have time to process what is happening when the tears spill down my cheeks, and my body trembles with shock and awe; with more love than I can possibly convey.
I raise both hands to my mouth.
“Abigail Stone,” he begins. “I think I’ve loved you from the moment I first saw you. Now, I can’t see my world without you.” Cooper’s eyes are brimming with passion as they coast across my face, drinking in my love-laced reaction. “Will you be my wife?”
I nod with vigor, with a thousand-million yeses.
I nod until my neck begins to ache.
“Yes,” I blurt out, my voice cracking, my eyes leaking. “Yes, Cooper.”
A giant smile lights up his face, and I try to think of a time when I ever saw him this happy. I draw a blank, realizing I can’t think of one for myself, either.
Cooper reaches over and places the pear-shaped diamond on my ring finger. I examine it with pride, watching it twinkle beneath the apricot sky as I imagine my life with the man of my dreams.
It’s a good life.
A life we both deserve.
We reminisce on the dock, hand in hand, conjuring up grand plans for our wedding day. Daphne will do my hair and makeup. Kate will decorate and design. My photography assistant, Jessa, will take our photos.
I opened a studio in downtown Ashland and it has become my pride and joy.
Hell, I’ll invite the whole damn town.
God, I can’t wait to tell our friends. I’m going to call my brother tonight and share the good news. Maybe he can help us find a DJ, or a live band.
Yes…a live band. Live music is magical.
I’m bursting with excitement when Cooper leans in and kisses my lips. For a moment, the wedding drifts from my mind and I am lost to him. Nothing feels more perfect than this moment.
“I think we need to celebrate,” he says, inching back with an eager smile. “I’m going to grab some sparkling grape juice. Do you want anything else?”
I shake my head, my eyes still misting. When he stands, I can’t help but wonder about something, so I stop him before he disappears. “Cooper?”
He glances my way.
“What if I really had chosen Dare?”
The mischievous glimmer in his eyes returns, and Cooper shoots me a wink. “Ask me again later.”
My skin flushes with heat as he saunters off the deck, the planks vibrating beneath me with each step.
Rascal.
A few moments tick by, and the sun sets lower in the sky.
The wind picks up. A chill washes over me.
I feel him, then.
A dark presence.
His presence.
Cappy is beside me, his legs dangling over the side of the dock as he readjusts his baseball cap.
Christopher.
His name is Christopher.
He is my darkness. He lives inside me, breaking free whenever I teeter on the brink of perfect joy. He’s there when I become lost in love, or in a daydream, or get swept up in a picturesque moment.
He’s there when I forget.
“Looks like rain, Little Bird.”
I stare out across the lake and notice the gray clouds rolling in.
Yes. I suppose it does.
Cooper returns, unaware of my new companion. His smile is contagious as his eyes reflect the setting sun. Those eyes are my lifeline. His love is my light.
He sits down beside me, leaning in until our shoulders are touching and our thighs are pressed together. I’m seated between the two men, feeling them pull and tug me in opposite directions.
They are my dark and my light; my black and my white.
My claws and my feathers.
I fear for a day without Cooper. I fear for what I would become.
He’s the only thing that keeps the darkness from swallowing me whole.
From choking on my brittle bones and spitting out my feathers.
There are days when I let the black void sink its teeth in me.
I give it a taste. Those are the days Cooper hugs me a little tighter, kisses me a little softer, and holds me a little closer.
He fights my demons for me on the days that I can’t.
He’s my hero in every way.
As thunder cracks in the distance and the sun disappears behind the clouds, I feel both men reach for one of my hands.
I cling to them.
They both want me. They both need me.
And I need them.
My name is Abigail Stone, and I am gray.
We are all gray…
The End